The process is well and truly underway to finally bring the iconic video game legend Lara Croft to the screen once again. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s upcoming Tomb Raider series for Amazon has officially added a bunch of new talent to the cast, including some huge names.
Alien and Avatar star Sigourney Weaver and Lucius Malfoy actor Jason Isaacs will appear in the series alongside Sophie Turner, who was previously announced to be taking on the role of Croft. Weaver will play Evelyn Wallis, a new character not featured in the original games who is described by the studio as a “mysterious, high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara’s talents.”
Unlike Weaver, Isaacs will play a character who is canon to the franchise: Croft’s uncle, Atlas DeMornay. Two other canon roles have been cast: Bill Paterson (Lord Lyman Beesbury in House of the Dragon) will play Winston, the Croft family’s longtime butler, while Martin Bobb-Semple takes on the role of Zip, Croft’s right-hand tech support and close friend.
Additionally, Jack Bannon, John Heffernan, Celia Imrie, Patterson Joseph, Sasha Luss, August Wittgenstein, and Juliette Motamed (who is excellent in the Peacock series We Are Lady Parts, by the way) have joined the cast in various roles that have been created specifically for the series, which will “reinvent the franchise on a massive scale” and will interconnect “live-action television series and video games into a unified storytelling universe.”
“Tomb Raider boasts a plethora of iconic characters,” Waller-Bridge explained in a statement. “I am thrilled to have been able to bring some personal and fan favourites to the screen while also introducing a few new rascals of our own to the mix. This cast is beyond my wildest dreams!”
Peter Friedlander, the head of Amazon MGM Studios, expressed a similar sentiment. “Tomb Raider has always been defined by bold storytelling and unforgettable characters, and these new cast members bring incredible depth and gravitas to the series. With talents like Sigourney Weaver and Jason Isaacs joining the ensemble, we’re elevating this world in exciting new ways, and can’t wait for our global Prime Video audience to experience this next chapter of Tomb Raider.”
Tomb Raider cast announcement:
The following cast are confirmed in canon roles from the Tomb Raider video game franchise:
- Martin Bobb-Semple is Zip. Zip is Lara Croft’s long-standing tech support and friend.
- Jason Isaacs is Atlas DeMornay. Atlas is Lara’s uncle.
- Bill Paterson is Winston. Winston is the long-standing Croft family butler.
The following cast are confirmed for roles to the Tomb Raider universe:
- Jack Bannon is Gerry. Gerry is Lara’s personal pilot and snack collector.
- John Heffernan is David. David is an exhausted government official who finds himself tangled up in Lara’s unusual world.
- Celia Imrie is Francine. Francine is the Head of Advancement at the British Museum, focused solely on raising funds and glasses of champagne.
- Paterson Joseph is Thomas Warner. Thomas Warner is a senior government official brought in to clean up an almighty mess.
- Sasha Luss is Sasha. Sasha is a fierce, deeply competitive new adversary of Lara’s.
- Juliette Motamed is Georgia. Georgia is a devoted, by-the-books curator at the British Museum, dedicated to the ‘proper’ preservation of history.
- Sigourney Weaver is Evelyn Wallis. A mysterious, high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara’s talents.
- August Wittgenstein is Lukas. Lukas is an illegal raider who shares history with Lara in more ways than one.
The upcoming series is bound to be interesting at the very least, especially with Turner and Waller-Bridge (as well as co-showrunner Chad Hodge) at the helm — but it looks as though it will be a while before we have a release date, as the series was reported back in September to start filming this month.
Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images For Disney.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
